Tabulating mechanism.



H. A. FO THOBAP. V TABULATINGMECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED DEC, 74.1914.

4 SHEETSSHEEIT 1'.

Patented Oct. 81918.

H. A. FOUTHORAP.

TABULMING MECHANISM. APPLICATION HLED 05014. m4.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

4 SHEETS--SHEET Z- Harry/4. K

H. A. FOOTHURAP. TABULAHNG MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED mac. I4. 1914.

Patented 0a.. s 1918.

H. A FOOTHURAP.

IABULAHMS MEChANISM .APPUCAHbN FILE U UECF 14. X954.

Pate/1112941; Oct. 8,. "1928,

1' 1w .lED srarrns PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY ARTHUR FOOTHORAP, 0F HARRISBURG, IPENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG NOR T O ELLIOTT-FISHER COMPANY, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A CGRPO-i RATION OF DELAWAREQ 'rABULA'rInc nrizcxmmsm.

To all whom it'mag concern Be it known that I, HARRY ARTHUR Foo'r- HORAP. a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Harrisburg, in the.

county of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new andusefnl Improvements in Tabulating-Mechanisnu of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to typewriting machines and more particularlyto a tabulating mechanism designed with special reference to the equipment of a typewriter of the flat platen type. 2' v The object of the invention iis'to provide-a tabulating mechanism of simple and efiicient construction adapted to be used either as a column tabulato'r or as a denominational or decimal tabulator and which may be assembled in. a compact unitary structure capable of bodily attachment to or detachment from the machine.

Other objects will appear as the succeedingdescriptiouis developed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional View of a portion of the typewriter equipped with tabulating mechanism constructed inaccordance with any invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of aportion of the typewriter equlpped with my tabulating mechanism, certain of the parts being broken away to facilitate the disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a portion of the machine showing the tabulatingmechanism in elevation. I

Fig. 4 is a front elevation ing mechanism with parts of the support broken way and with certain of the operating connections omitted. 1 I

Fig. 5 is a sectional View of the line "5 5 of Fig. 4 showmg one of the stops orhlades in normal position.

Fig. 6 'is a similar 'view withthc blade moved 'toits operatlve position." I

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective View of one of the traisfer bail'brackets. I

Fig. 8 is a detail View showing the manner of retaining the tabulato stop bar. a

Fig. 9 isa' sectiononth'e 'line 9 Fig. 8.

ill-95- 10- a detail View, of one of the tabulator "stops and Specification of Letters Patent.

of the tahulat Fig. 11 is 3 360151011211 vie'w' of-thetabulatorthereon, and

PatentedlOct. 8 1918. I Application filed December 14, 1914. Serial No. 877,219. I

ating and retracting hailsaud the operating.

connection of the former.

Typewriters of the character sideration include a line space frame F 1, which moves longitudinally over a flat platen not shown, and supports a carriage 2 which is movable transversely of the platen under coir:

on the frame. The specific-character of' tlie;

frame and carriage except 'as hereinafter mentioned, forms no part of; the present .inv ventionand for that-reason both arefrag mentarily shown. Sufiice it to say that the frame 1 isequhoped with a pair of brackets 3 which support the opposite ends of a table later stop bar 4, disposed parallel withfthe' carriage in rear thereof. One endo'fthe bar 4 is received in a seat 5 formedin plate 6 secured to one of the brackets 3 an'tl'the other end of said bar is receivedin an upwardlv opening seat? in a similar plate 8 secured to the other bracket 3. Oneend of the bar 4 is placed in the seat by an end-- wise movement of the bar whose opposite end is .then dropped into the seat 7 where it is held against upward movementby a bar catch Qpivotally mounted on the under side of the bar, as best shown in Fig. 8, and normally extended under" a fixed part, as for instance, the plate 8. The catch 9 may be swung from under the plate when itiis de sired to detach the bar from theframe when swung back under the frame to secure the bar is arrested in its holding position by a stoplug 10 formed on the catch and at gaging the bar 4;. To retainthebar l rigidly against endwise movement a'nd also to afford slight endwise adjustment, thrust screws 11 are screwed through the bracketc 3 and into impingingrelation with the. ends of the band and are held'loy lock screws The frontedge cf the stop. ha-r t is pm:

'vided with graduated jseriesjcfteeth 13 designed" to heengaged lay the teeth 146i the 'tahnlator. steps-l5, one/ofwhich i y shown in FigsoQ jllfand- 11. This.

" isi as hn t-necessitat shown in Fig; .10 a d m ill} 1 i i' 'ear p, the 1. cent to fa m t ;h., Whig plates 16- an't aw" formen;

engages under an inclined face 18 formed by removingthe lower rear corner of the bar. This enables a stop to be readily placed on the bar 4 in any desired position by inserting the teeth 14 in the teeth of the rack and then pressing down'on the plate 16 until the catch thereof engages under the bar. The left hand faces of the teeth 13 of the bar are straight since they sustain the thrust when the carriage is arrested and the teeth 14 of the stops are correspondingly formed. The bladeengaging portion of the stop also has the form of a tooth with one side straight and the other inclined so as to bring the stop within the limits of a letter space and to aid in the retraction of a tabulator blade without injury in the event of the retraction of the carriage with a blade slightly displaced from normal position.

The carriage 2, upon which the downwardly acting printing mechanism (not shown) is mounted, includes in its organization adeck 19 which forms the bottom of the casing 20 within which the key levers the tabulator blade frame 23. At the rear of the frame 23 is dropped a ledge 24 which abuts against the rear edge of the deck 19 and the bottom wall of the frame is screwed or otherwise secured, see Fig. 6, to the bot tom flange 25 of what is known as the trans fer bail support 26. The flange 25 rests on the deck 19 and the bail support proper is r in the form of a plate disposed vertically and extending considerably beyond both ends of the frame 23, these extended portions being rigidly secured to the deck by foot flanges 27 The stop flanges 21 depend from the shaft 22, their lower ends being widened somewhat from front to rear, as shown and their upper ends being extended rearwardly to form arms 28 connected by pendant links 29 to nested tabulator bails 30. The bails 30 are in the form of rock shafts disposed horizon-' tally one above the other in two groups at opposite sides of the series of blades andeach havin an inner and outer terminal arm 31 an connected respectively to the links 29 and push rods 33, the push rods. as shown in Fig. 3. being forwardly inclined and e'xtended adjacent to the top of the casing 20 for attachment to the tahbulatorikey levers 34. At the front ends of the levers 34 are tabulator keys 35 exposed above the top of a the carriage c aslng and bearing (lOIlUlllllitb tional designations according to the positions of'the blades to which said keys are connected. The inner ends of the shaft portions of the bails 30 are afforded bearings in bearing brackets 36, one for each group. These brackets are formed with horizontal bearing grooves 37 which are closed by the bail support to which the brackets are secured. The outer ends of the "bail are carried by individual bearing brackets 38 screwed to the support 26.

It will now be observed by reference to Fig. 4, that in order to secure the necessary compact arrangement of the blades and shafts, the shafts in addition to being nested one above the other in two groups or series, each has its inner arm 31 located opposite one of the blades, the links being graduated as to length in opposite directions from the links at the center of the group to those at the ends thereof. Likewise. to accommodate the comparatively wide spacing of the tabulator keys, the'bails of each group are graduated in length to effect a material spacing of the outer arms 32.

Coacting with the tabulator blades or stops 21, and intended to retract the same, is a spring comb 39, extending across the top of the blade frame and having its individual spring fingers 4O coacting with the individual blades. These retracting springs, however. are not relied upon since there is also provided a blade retracting bail 41 comprising side arms 41" swung from the shaft 22 and a retracting bar 41" extending between the lower ends of the arms 41 and normally contacting with the rear faces of the. blades just above the enlarged or widened portions of the latter. The retracting bail 41 is held yieldingly in normal position by blade retracting springs 42 attached to lugs 43 on the bail and to lugs 44 which are upturned from the bottom plate of the transfer bail support. \Vhen any of the several denominational stops or blades 21 is I moved back to its active position, as shown in Fig. 6, .the retracting bail 41 is swung rearwardly against the resistance of the springs 42 which positively retract the .bail and stop upon the release of the tabulator ke ittention is now directed to the fact that the tabulator key levers 34 are mounted in individual bearings 45 which depend from the removable cover plate 46 of the carriage 20 and thateach lever/is provided with an individual retracting spring 47 connected to said cover plate and to a downwardly extended lug 48 formed on the lever in advance of its fulcrum. I This arrangement assembles the tabulator levers and keys on the cover plate of the carriage with which they may be removed as a unit. \Vith this unit may be included the push rods 33, the upper ends of which are provided with hooks 19 engaging the levers and the lower ends of which are connected to the outer bail arms 32 by clips 50 screwed on the rods andv affording the necessary adjustment. Obviously, therefore, when the rear wall of the carriage has been removed, either the upper or the lower ends of the push rods may be disconnected so that said rods may either be removed with the cover plate and the parts assembled thereon or allowed to remain associated with that part of the mechanism which is assembled on the deck 19.

It is necessary to elfect the automatic release of the carriage for what is known as.

skip spacing when a tabulator key is depressed to positioira stop for the arrest of the carriage at the desired point. Therefore, a universal bar or bail 51 is swung upon bearings depending from the cover plate 16 and held against the under sides of the key levers 31 by a spring To one end of this bail 51 i attached a bifurcated arm 51 extending down into engagement with a headed stud 55 at the upper end of the reease rod 56. This release rod 56 is a push a rod located adjacent to the right hand end of the carriage .(the left hand end in Fig.

1) and eXte-nd'ed'through the deck 19 to engage the carriage release lever 57 which, as fully described in my copending application, Serial No. 877211, is swung by the depression of the rod 56 to move the holding dog 58 of the carriage escapement to its disengaged position, thus allowing the carriage which, as usual, is under tension, to name freely under the impulse of the cariage propelling mechanism. The connection between the universal. bar 51 of the tab 'u lating mechanism and the release rod 56 is made separable for two reasons, first, to

permit the universal bar to be removed by the cover plate without the necessity for disconnectin the bar from the rod a separate operation, and second, to permit the operation of the bar 56 and the release of the carnjage independently of the tabulating mechanism, assfor instance, upon the de pression of the carriage release key. the connection between which and the release rod 56 is indicated at 59.

It will now be seen that upon the depression of any tabulator key its lever 34: will be swung down to rock one of the transfer bails 30 through the medium of a push rod 33 and thus cause said bail, through the mediuanof a link 29, to swing the oorre sponding tahulati'xr stop or blade21 to the position shown in F g. 6, which Will present it in interfering relation with the fixed stops l-fioir't lie tabulator bar 4. The operation of tlu kevfwi'll also depress the bail 51 to.opcrate'the carriage release Inechanism. The

carriage will then move until arrested by the engagement with the stops and upon the release of the key. the holding dog of the escapement will be allowed to be moved back to normal position and the operated tabulator stop or blade will be retracted by the bail 11. 1

It is desi able in machines of this character to provide not only for denominational selection, by which is vmeant the arrest of the carriage in any desired denominational relation to the decimal point arbitrarily located by the adjustment of a stop on the bar 1, but to also provide a special key for what is known as column tabulation, .by which is meant the arrest of the printing point at a predetermined position in any one of several columns. For this reason. at the right hand end of the machine there is mounted whatis known as a column tabulator key 60 carried at the front end of a column tabulator lever 61 connected adjacent to its rear end by a. draw wire 62 to the outer end of a column stop lever fulcrumed at 6% on the bail support 26. The lever 63 terminates adjacent to one side of the stop frame 23 where it is connected by a link 65 to an arm 66 extended from one of the end pieces 67 of a stop operating yoke 68 swung from the shaft 22 and having an angular finger 69 which engages the arm 28 of that stop or blade 21 which arrests the carriage in the units position. By the depression of the column tabulator key 60, the lever 61 is swung to vibrate the lever 63 which, through the medium of the link 65, depresses the arm 66 of the yoke 68 and causes the finger 69of said yoke to swing the units stop or blade 21. This units blade is shown depressed by the yoke in Fig. 6 of the drawings, wherein it will be noted that theparticular link 29 connected to this stop blade, for which two separate operating mechanisms are provided, is formed with a 'slot 70 constituting an element of a slot and pin connection between this link and its transfer bail. This slot 70 permits the link 29 to move downward independently of the transfer bail when the stop is operated bythe finger 69 but does not interfere with the proper operation of the stop by the bail when the units tabulator key is depressed.

In the 'latter case, that is to say when the units stop is operated from the units tabulator key, the arm 28 of the stop merely moves away from the finger 69 without causing any movement ofthe column stop key or its connected parts. Of course it is essential to release thecarriage when the units stop is positioned by the key 60. A convenient node of accomplishing this purpose is shown in Fig. 3 wherein a small sublever '21 mounted abov the deck has one end connected to the column tabulator lever end overlying a set collar 73 on the release rod on. "lhus wlurn the lever 60 is depressed, the sublcvcr Tl is swung to depress the release rod and thus move the holding dog 58 of the escapement to release the carriage.

To retractthe levers 61, 71 and 63, a retracting spring Ta: is connected to the rear end of the lever 61 and to a fixed part. The retraction of the yoke 68 is. of course, effected by the retracting bail -l-l, since said bail retracts the units stop, the arm of which in turn retracts the yoke. Of course, if denominational or decimal tabulation is not desired, all of the tabulator keys located above the cover plate and all of their operating" connections, as well as all blades except the units blade, may be eliminated from the machine, in which case the transfer bail support ma v also be omitted from the transfer frame proportioned so as to accommodate only the single stop required.

From what has been said, it will be seen that the entire tabulating mechanism, exclusive of the column tahulatc-r lever 61, is grouped on the deck and cover plate of the carriage in such a way that two distinct units of structure capable of separate but complete assemblage are produced. One of these units is assembled on the bail support and may be secured as an assembled unit. to the deck while the other is completely assembled on the cover plate of the carriage and may be placed in the machine as an assembled unit. and placed in operative condition with the other or lower unit by merely connecting up the push rods at either their upper or lower or both ends, accordingly as they are assembled with one or the other of said units or are placed in position after both units have been positioned in the machine.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a t-abulating mechanism for typewriters, the combination with a stop, of a series of stop blades coacting with said stop, means for moving the stop blades to their active positions, a retracting bail mounted co-axially with the stop blades, and a frame serving to confin and guide the stop blades and embraced by the bail to guide the same.

2. In a typewriter, the combination with a carriage having a deck, of a tabulating mechanism including a stop frame, a trans fer bail support, a series of swinging stop blades mounted in the frame, a series of transfer bails mounted on the support and operating connections between the transfer bails and the swinging stop blades, all of the recited elements being assembled in a unitary structure for attachment, to and detachment. from the deck, and said tabulating mechanism also including keys, and connections between the keys and transfer bails.

3. fi tabulating mechanism for t vpewrit ing machines including two separately assembled unitary structures, one of said structures including a support, a series of swinging stop blades and a series of transfer bails all assembled on the support, the

blades and hails being connected, and the .a carriage having a deck and a removable cover plate, of a stop frame and a bail support rigidly connected to each other and attached to the deck, movable stop blades mounted in the frame. transfer bails mounted on the bail support and connected to the stop blades to operate the same, means for retracting the blades, tabulator keys and key leversassembled on the cover plate and detachable, operating connections between the key levers and the transfer bails.

In a typewriter, the combination with a carriage having; a deck and a removable cover plate, of a tabulating mechanism including a stop frame and transfer support, a series of swinging stop blades and a. series of transfer'bails connected to the stop blades and all assembled in a unitarv structure attached to the deck of the carriage. transfer levers and keys and a universal bar all assembled on the cover plate of the carriage. removable push rods connecting the levers and transfer bails, an es capement controlling the movement of the carriage, and means for releasing the carriage from the control of the escapement, said means being separately connected to the universal bar.

6. In a tabulating mechanism for typewriting machines, the combination with a stop, of a series of stop blades coacting there- 'wtith and having horizontally disposed arms, a blade shaft from which the blades are swung, a retracting bail and an operating bail both swung from said shaft, a finger extended from the operating bail to engage the arm of one stop blade, links connected to the arms of the several stop blades, the tabulator keys, operating connections between the tabulator keys and the links, said connections including transfer bails, the connection between the transfer bail and the link of the stop blade operated by the operating bail bein loose to permit the operation of said blade by the operating bail without swinging the transfer bail connected to said blade, a key for moving the operating bail and retracting springs for the retracting hall,

7. The combination with a typewriter 1 including a carriage, carriage controlling mechanism and carriage release mechanism,

' of a stop mount'edindependently of the car riage, a seriesof sto blades mounted on the carriage and indivi u-ally movable into in terfering relation with said stop, a series of tabulatorkeys for moving the stop blades, a retracting bail for the stop blades, an operatingbail for one of the stop blades, a lever for operating said bail, "a connection between said lever and the carriage release mechanism and a connection between the several tabulator keys and the carriage release mechanism 8. In a 'tabulating mechanism for type writers, the combination with a stop, of a series of co-axially mounted stop bladescoacting therewith, a series of tabulator keys,

a series of horizontally disposed transfer bails arranged in two groups the bails of -.which are nested one above the another and disposed horizontally for rotation on horizontal. longitudinal axes, a link connecting each bail with a stop blade, key leversand a push rod connecting each key lever to a transfer bail.

9. In a tabulating mechanism for typewriters, the combination with a stop, of a series of. swinging stop blades adapted to (:0-

act therewith, a frame in which the blades,

are mounted, a blade retracting bail anda stop operating yoke assembled with the blades on the frame, tabulator keys for, operatin the blades and a separate key. for operating the yoke.

10. In a typewriter, the combination with a carriage having a deck and a removable v a carriage having a deck and a removable cover plate, of a stop frame and a bail support mounted on the deck, stops mounted in 'the frame, transfer bails on thebail support, connections between"?the -bails. and stops, a series of key levers assembled-on the under side of the cover plate, and push rods connecting the key levers to the transfer bails.

13. Ina typewriter the combination with a frame and carriage, of aseries of tabulator stopslocated at the lower rear corner of the carriage, a series of tabulatorkeys disposedabove the carriage,and connections between the keys and stops, said connections includ- 'ing key levers and transfer bails and inter mediate push rods,

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses HARRY ARTHUR roorri onar.

Witnesses W. J. Evnn'r,

"EDWIN FLOYD. 

